September #jammed: Free Grace.

Day 270: Slower speed receives fast.

“Jesus repeatedly left the crowds, though, stealing away into the wilderness to pray.” Luke 5:16

Breathe in …..

Breath out ….

Desparate to create a little more space for my little rib-kicker, I listened intently to the instructor’s lesson on breathing. Though a natural phenomenon we don’t have to think about to accomplish, there is a way to breath that intensifies and maximizes all other attempted movements and thoughts. Not a believer in meditation, so to speak, I deferred to prayer after the intense stretching and strengthening had come to a peaceful end on the mat.

In those moments, I breathed deeply …not into the thoughts of the instructor or the power of the earth, but into my conversation with my Creator. In the moments that I chose to breathe deeply into His presence, He pulled me in a little closer to His embrace. There is power in breathing into the One by Whom our very breathe was crafted.

breathe- to take in oxygen and give out carbon dioxide through natural processes; to inhale and exhale freely. (Merriam-Webster)

There is power in breathing. Great power that we walk through our days not focusing on or noticing… but when we choose to shift our gaze and our focus to a moment dedicated solely to abiding in His presence …sometimes wordless …that’s powerful.

Jesus knew this power. In today’s verse, he steals away into the wilderness to pray. He showed us that our human flesh does not operate on the power of the wind or the waves or the earth or our minds. Our strength, our very breathe, is in held in the compassionate hands of God, who placed us purposefully.

Jesus, God’s Son, who came down from heaven to abide with us, die for us, and save us …needed to walk away and spend time with His Father in prayer. What a rich lesson for us, as we seek our way through this massively painful world, that feels as if it weighs a thousand pounds on our backs some days. It was never ours to carry. Not the burden of our lives, this life, or worry of the future. Christ came to conquer it all, and show us how to cope while we remain.

Breathe. Pray. Believe. Follow.

Father, Praise You for prayer. Thank You for giving us the gift of conversation and quiet moments just to breathe in Your presence. Forgive us for passing these life-giving moments by, and help us to slow down and dedicate our breath to you each day. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 Get the conversation started by commenting below, and let’s encourage one another as we face life in 2017 armed with grace! 

#greatgrace17

Happy Breathing,

Megs

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